Community members in Traditional Authority Chitekwere in Lilongwe have vowed to send children to school to become productive citizens in future.
Working as volunteers in community voice and action (CVA) groups, the community members engage parents and guardians on the importance of sending children to school.
his studies. | pemphero Mbalame
Among other interventions, the volunteers, with support from mother groups, traditional leaders and other stakeholders, terminate child marriages and send the children back to school.
In Mphidzi Village, the volunteers convinced Ganizani Tsankhulo to return to school after he dropped out due to family problems.
In an interview on Wednesday, Ganizani’s mother, Lezinart Jonathan, said the father forbade the child from going to school.
“Whenever I bought exercise books or clothes for my son, the father burnt them. He did everything he could to frustrate his son, from going to school,” she said.
Jonathan said the father was eventually killed by his relatives after an altercation.
“It was after his father’s death that a CVA group came again to convince the family to let Ganizani return to school,” she said.
The area’s CVA chairperson Andrea Mphinzi said they were pleased to play a crucial role in Ganizani’s life.
“That was in 2019. Ganizani heeded the call and returned to Mitondo Primary School,” he said.
On his part, Ganizani said he will work hard to achieve his goal.
“I want to become a teacher to inspire my village people to send their children to school,” he said.
The group also convinced Beatrice Andrea, who dropped out in 2023 after she became pregnant.
“The CVA group said I was too young to get married. The group convinced my parents for me to return to school after giving birth,” she said.
